I’m Not Drunk, I Have MS

There isn’t a single one of us who hasn’t either said, heard, written or read something about walking “like a drunk” because of multiple sclerosis. In fact, a survey done by the MS Society of the UK over 50 percent of people living with MS report that their symptoms have been confused with drunkenness. A couple of stories from “over there” have been making the papers of late and I thought I’d ask your thoughts.

In the first story, we meet a young, 19 year old woman who is kicked out of a fast-food establishment and then banned by the owner on a return visit because she couldn’t talk well due to her MS and he thought she was drunk. Even though the woman’s younger sister was with her on the second visit and his staff told him she was only drinking soft drinks, he kicked her out because she “seemed like she is not a well-behaved person” and insisting that she and her sister were drunk.

In a follow up to the phone/e-mail hacking scandal that has been rocking the media world in the UK, it was divulged that a Peer and conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Lords was a target of hacking due to his MS symptoms.

David Maclean, Lord Blencathra, was an influential whip in the government of Margret Thatcher and Minister in the Home Office in the John Major government. Made a Peer in 2002 by the Queen, Lord Blencather brought suit against News of the World for hacking his personal information to prove that what turned out to be MS symptoms were signs of heavy drinking. This, even though Lord Blencathra announced his MS publicly in 2002.

We may not have people kicking us out of take-away restaurants or having the Murdoch media machine hacking our e-mails, but many of us have seen “that look” as we reach for a wall (or grocery shelf, or railing, or car, or…) to keep our balance. Whispers are not uncommon to us as we stagger past; wishing we would have brought a cane that day. How many of us can say that we haven’t had to laugh-off or defend ourselves when someone says cruel things about our gate, or speech or something that we cannot control?

So, while I’ll not say that I’m adverse to the drink, I will say that I’m not drunk… I haven’t been drinking… and I still walk this way. GET OVER IT. I’ve had to!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevis Gleason

Trevis L. Gleason is a food journalist and published author, an award-winning chef and culinary instructor who has taught at institutions such as Cornell University, New England Culinary Institute and...read more